The first wave of Intel-based Windows 8 tablets are expected to land in retail stores in November, a source familiar with device makers' plans told CNET.

"The schedule is tight," said the source. "Looking at what Windows is trying to achieve not only with a new OS, but a new OS that needs to run four to five architectures -- three ARM, Intel, and AMD," according to the source.

And don't expect just tablets. "More than 50 percent" of the "more than a dozen" designs will be hybrids, aka convertibles, the source said. Those designs combine aspects of a traditional physical keyboard-based laptop and tablet.

Intel-specified tablet/hybrid features.
Intel

All the devices described by the source will tap Intel's upcoming "Clover Trail" Atom chip. Clover Trail is Intel's first dual-core Atom design based on its 32-nanometer process technology. (The single core version of this chip powers a phone from India-based Lava and is slated for phones from Lenovo, Orange, and Motorola, among others.)

Hybrid Windows 8 designs based on the higher-performance Ivy Bridge processor are also expected but the source did not address that market segment specifically.

About the author

Brooke Crothers writes about mobile computer systems, including laptops, tablets, smartphones: how they define the computing experience and the hardware that makes them tick. He has served as an editor at large at CNET News and a contributing reporter to The New York Times' Bits and Technology sections. His interest in things small began when living in Tokyo in a very small apartment for a very long time.
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